Ghulam Nabi Azad’s utterances against the Congress at a time when the party is looking to reap gains over the setbacks it suffered recently, are sure to bring back the debate on why the grand old party has to reinvent itself. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls have started staring right into the party’s eyes, and the so the Congress would be looking to remove all stains on its garb. The Azad comment, however, comes as a bolt from the blue, all of a sudden.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, a veteran Congress man who called it quits after many months of mulling over such a move, takes pride at the moment that he is not anymore a Congress leader. And when he stated this during the launch event of his autobiography titled ‘Azaad’ that one has to be spineless if he or she were to remain in the Congress party, it has to be seen as a full frontal attack on the party he once was part of.

Azad and his anti-Congress comments

Azad, in fact, went on and on with his anti-Congress, anti-Rahul tirade, much to the embarrassment of the party he once held senior positions in. He placed all the blame on Rahul Gandhi for his decision to leave the Congress. He even lambasted Rahul for trashing the Ordinance that sought to negate an apex court order on disqualifying convicted MPs and MLAs. He lashed out at the ministers of the then UPA cabinet for being so weak that they could not side step Rahul Gandhi’s action. Sad enough, the same order has now proved as bane to Rahul Gandhi, who has ended up being disqualified as MP.

Ghulam Nabi Azad’s comments have, no doubt, become an embarrassment for the Congress party that has been hoping to return to power. Stating that he would never return to the Congress party, Azad also stated that Rahul Gandhi was the reason why he and many other leaders took the important decision of leaving the party once and forever. According to a report that quoted him, he has said, “once you are in Congress, you are spineless…. you have to get operated.”

So where does that leave the Congress party? The image of spineless leaders dancing to the tune of Rahul Gandhi presents a picture of shame to the grand old party. With the 2024 polls round the bend, this is something the party would never have wanted on the public domain.  

The party has been working overtime to put up a strong resistance to the BJP juggernaut that has deprived them of power and popularity for quite a long time now. The party now has a new president, while the face of the party – Rahul Gandhi – has created a space in people’s hearts through his Bharat Jodo Yatra and the subsequent disqualification as MP, which many secular beings in the country believe is a ploy by the saffron powers to halt his leap towards popularity.  

Congress has much work to complete ahead of polls

All these have been auguring well for the party. These coupled with the negative sentiment that the NDA government has brought about through a bunch of policies and pro-Hindu acts, have been providing much strength to the anti-saffron movement that was being built from ground up by the Congress party and its allies.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, who hasn’t ruled out joining hands with the BJP after the J&K elections are over, making these attacks need not surprise Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. However, going all out against the party comes at a bad time for the Congress. For, the quest to return to power, or at least build a formidable force to vanquish the popularity of the BJP and the saffron alliance is prime on the Congress itinerary.

It now needs to be seen how the Azad attack would make the party prepare itself well for the upcoming days. The party president and Rahul Gandhi, along with seasoned and veteran leaders who know their job, would have to come together to devise an agenda to stay strong. But will they?